THE ADVOCATE BOOK.*

HARVARD papers have always been fortunate in having poetry of a high order. At many colleges, where the prose-writing is really good, the contributions of poetry are made up wholly, or almost wholly, of "elegant extracts." Our papers, on the other hand, have always abounded in original poetry, fully equal to the poetry in the periodicals of the day, and on this point we have long been the object of envy of all our college exchanges.

The editors of the Advocate have just published a volume of poetry, selected from their columns of the last ten years, and we have to congratulate our contemporary on having produced a most admirable book. The selections amount to a little over a hundred pieces, consisting of songs, descriptive pieces, translations, and sonnets, some humorous and some serious, but all relating more or less directly to undergraduate life. It is a book of which every Harvard man may well be proud. That such good poetry has been written by our undergraduates must be a source of pleasure to every one who has the interests of the College at heart.

The poems are all good, so that it is hardly possible to speak of any particularly. But the poems by Loring will probably be more eagerly read than any others in the collection. He had, perhaps, more poetic talent than any of the other contributors, and his sad fate, too, has led many to be interested in whatever he has written. Some of his poems are here, we believe, for the first time published in book form.

The authors represent classes from '59 to '78, and it is noticeable that the majority of the pieces are written by men of late years. This shows, unless the compilers have been very partial toward their own time, that the quality of our poetry has, of late, been improving.

All in all, this volume seems to us the best exponent of Harvard-life extant. The "Rebelliad," although very witty, is now antiquated; and, besides, it is often coarse. "Fair Harvard," which so delights a sub, a graduate cannot endure. Loring's "Two College Friends" is a more truthful picture of Harvard. But this volume of verse, in our opinion, gives a still better insight into College life, and is a better representative of Harvard feeling. We know of no work which will serve so well to remind a student of his College days when away, or which will give his friends so clear an idea of the joyous life he has led here.

In point of mechanical execution the work is remarkably handsome. The binding is of red muslin, and the paper is of a superior quality. There is only one typographical error as far as we have been able to discover. The edition is limited to a thousand copies, and we doubt not will be soon exhausted.

* Verses from the Harvard Advocate. New York: Published by Hurd & Houghton, The Riverside Press, Cambridge, 1876.